Details are scarce at the moment. I found out about the news through Facebook, where friends are sharing their memories about one of music’s most influential (and unheralded) sound magicians. I was lucky enough to spend some time with Bill and his stories … here’s a profile I wrote shortly after he moved back from Los Angeles to Edmonton:

EDMONTON — You won’t find Bill Kennedy’s name in the credits of one of his greatest achievements.

Well, not exactly.

As a sound engineer and mixer, the Edmonton native worked on Nine Inch Nails’ 1992 industrial-rock EP, Broken, helping to coax the right sounds out of Trent Reznor’s gear and then piecing together all the various elements into a potent sonic punch.

The album went on to win a Grammy for best metal performance and sell millions around the world. In each one of those copies, Kennedy is listed as The Kill Bennedy.

Recording engineers and mixers are used to hiding in the shadows, but the scruffy studio wizard wasn’t initially thrilled with Reznor’s little joke.

“My friends didn’t believe I worked on it,” chuckles Kennedy.

Luckily, the 43-year-old has proof of his other work — an unadulterated version of his name appears in the liner notes of dozens of albums.

Over the past 16 years, Kennedy was one of the most sought-after engineers in Los Angeles, working on tracks by U2, David Bowie, Roy Orbison, tenor Placido Domingo, KISS, Bryan Adams, Aerosmith, Bruce Springsteen, Rod Stewart, Marilyn Manson, Belinda Carlisle and jazz greats Stan Getz and Herb Alpert.

But the work wasn’t enough to keep Kennedy in the States, nor was his tiny guest house in the Hollywood Hills, situated on property rife with African pygmy goats, Japanese silky chickens, and Skippy from Family Ties.

In December, he became the latest member of Canada’s musical mafia to leave the U.S. for the pedestrian comforts of home. Producer Bob Ezrin, one of the country’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Famers, returned a few months earlier, setting up shop in Toronto.

Kennedy says it was the right time to move. He wanted to be closer to his mother, plus he was attracted by Edmonton’s booming music scene — bolstered by dozens of acts, four strong independent labels and supportive radio stations.

Since his arrival, Kennedy has worked with Chunk, mixing one of their heavy rock tracks for World Wrestling Entertainment. He’s now in the studio with two other local acts, including Long Way Down, and a singer from Australia.

“There’s something to be said about colder climates,” he says. “I spent the summer in Phoenix and it was 45 to 47 degrees every day. It made me really lethargic and I think here, you go outside and it’s like, ‘OK, what are we gonna do? We’re going to go to a warm place and rehearse!’ I think that breeds creativity.

“There’s a lot of good stuff going on up here. Getting people to focus a little more on what’s going on in Edmonton is definitely part of the objective. We want to get people (in the industry) to come here and check it out.”

Back in the ’80s, the trend was reversed.

Artists, producers and engineers were forced to leave town if they wanted to extend their horizons beyond The People’s Pub or small, out-of-the-way studios. Kennedy ended up getting a gig at Toronto’s Phase One studios in 1985, after accidentally falling into the music business.

“I don’t actually play an instrument,” he admits.

“I played guitar when I was really young and I quit. I discovered girls. The next time around, I decided I wanted to do lights, so I worked for a local company called Lighting By Monty. I started working in one of the bars with one of the bands, doing lights on the weekends when they were in town. Then, their sound guy quit and I kinda got moved over by default.”

His move to L.A. also happened by default. Kennedy was hoping to move to New York or London, but his Canadian colleagues had other plans. In the late ’80s, producer GGGarth landed a job at A&M studios in Los Angeles and brought along engineer Randy Staub, who recommended Kennedy.

“Randy actually called me and said, ‘Don’t tell anybody I told you, but they’re calling you this weekend and you’re going to come in and assist on U2,’ ” he says. “It was Rattle & Hum and it was a remix of Angel of Harlem. (U2) wasn’t there, but it was still amazing.”

A few months later, Kennedy was working with the Eurythmics, Belinda Carlisle and Bruce Springsteen, setting up gear, plugging in equipment and taking notes.

“By the fourth or fifth thing, (A&M) called me and told me I was going to work with a really big opera star,” he says. “I was like, ‘What? I didn’t move all the way from Toronto for that. I came to work on rock ‘n’ roll.’ They said it was Placido Domingo and I had no idea who he was. The Three Tenors weren’t out yet. To this day, it’s probably one of the greatest experiences I had.”

Then, there were his sessions with Reznor and Nine Inch Nails.

“The first song we worked on was Happiness Is Slavery. After we spent four hours dialing in the distortion, I was like, ‘Now I know how you got your name. I feel like someone’s been pounding nine-inch nails into my head all day long.'”

Over the years, Kennedy has also added producer to his growing list of credits, overseeing the sound and vision of Megadeth’s The World Needs A Hero, Morbid Angel’s Domination and various soundtracks, including Strange Days, Heavy Metal 2000 and Freddy vs. Jason.

While he revels in every step of the recording process, Kennedy says he particularly enjoys the pre-production phase, when artists are writing their songs and discussing the direction of their albums. He’s also fond of mastering, which involves fine-tuning the overall sound of a song or album.

“It means we’re finished,” Kennedy chuckles. “It’s just the greatest feeling to take the mastered version, get into your truck and listen to it and go, ‘Ahh, now it sounds like a record.’ “

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